LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Senior Bonfiace Yator posted a top-50 finish but Austin Peay State University men's cross country team only managed a 26th-place finish  at the massive Greater Louisville Cross Country Classic's Blue Race, Saturday morning, at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park.

Yator's 48th place finish - he completed the eight-kilometer course in a time of 25:58.92 - may not sound like an impressive finish but the Blue Race's field was composed of 285 runners, placing Yator among the field's top fifth. It is the third consecutive year an Austin Peay runner has posted a top-50 finish at the Louisville meet.

However, the Govs only had two runners among the top 150 in the field and finished 26th, with 611 points, among the race's 33 teams. More importantly, Austin Peay finished behind each of four Ohio Valley Conference schools in the race:  Southeast Missouri (3rd, 173 pts), SIU Edwardsville (4th, 213), UT Martin (20th, 501) and Morehead State (21st, 504).

Junior Geofrey Kosgei was close behind Yator, finishing the race in 57th place with a time of 26:04.42. Junior Konnor Kessler was the Govs next finisher in 183rd with a time of 27:10.08. He was followed by sophomore Tyler Kepley (190th, 27:18.76), junior Genaro Martinez (225th, 27:49.40) and freshman David Frattarelli (273rd, 29:33.35).

"The men had a nice one-two punch with Yator and Kosgei, who ran his best race of the year," said head coach Doug Molnar. "Our next group - even though they ran decent times and season bests - really hurt us by getting out so slow. I hope we've learned something from this."

This weekend's meet was the first of three consecutive meets in the Bluegrass State for the Govs, they return to Kentucky in one week for the Kentucky State Thorobreds Stampede, Oct. 8, in Frankfort.

-AP-